Repeated regional elections in the German capital Berlin on February 12, 2023.
Berlin – Today's repeated regional elections in Berlin were clearly won by the opposition conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the governing Social Democrats (SPD) of Mayor Franziska Giffey and the coalition Greens are fighting for second place. This follows from estimates published after the polls closed. According to Giffey, it is obvious that the CDU has become the strongest party in Berlin. Conservatives in Berlin last won a regional election in 1999.
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According to the estimates of the public broadcaster ZDF, the conservatives won 28 percent, the Greens and the Social Democrats each have 18 percent. The post-communist Left Party, which is the third coalition party in the Berlin regional government with the SPD and the Greens, received 13 percent. The liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) also got into the Berlin Chamber of Deputies with five percent.
According to estimates by the public broadcaster ARD, the conservatives won 27.5 percent of the vote and are now in second place splits the SPD and the Greens with 18.5 percent of the vote. According to this forecast, the left won 12.5 percent and the AfD party nine, while the liberals did not get into the lower house with a gain of 4.5 percent of the vote.
“We don't know if we finished second yet,” Giffey said. “However, the result shows that Berliners are not satisfied with the current situation,” she said. She added that her government had only one year at the head of the metropolis to make changes.
While there was a gloomy mood in the SPD staff after the forecasts were published, in the CDU headquarters just after 6:00 p.m., when the polling stations closed and when estimates published, cheers erupted. “It's phenomenal. Berlin has chosen change. People want political change,” said Conservative leader Kai Wegner. In a speech after the forecasts were released, he thanked voters as well as his team and said the forecasts clearly showed the CDU should take power. The conservatives must now find a strong coalition partner, which may not be easy, according to analysts. According to Wegner, Berlin needs a stable government.
Today's vote was a repeat of the regional elections of September 2021. At that time, the elections were accompanied by significant irregularities, due to which the Berlin Constitutional Court ordered a repeat of the vote. For the newly elected MPs, repeat elections mean that they will continue the mandate of their predecessors elected a year and a half ago. The next regular regional elections will not be held in five years, but in 2026.
